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About Me

I love music, coffee, red wine, reading, shopping, design, and food! I am a wealth of useless information and love to laugh. I try to balance work, motherhood, maintaining our home, friendships, and finding time for myself. Unfortunately, I rarely succeed. I am imperfect and not afraid to admit it. This blog is a place for me to keep it real and keep the creative part of me going through this crazy journey. Enjoy!

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Peace Baby

Over the past year, I have been on a quest to both reduce and add sparingly to the cheap, obnoxious, plastic toys in our overflowing collection.

There are many reasons I protest these toys. First, they are usually ugly, bright, and do not complement our decor. It appears that Milton Bradley and Fisher Price partied hard, had a few too many gin and tonics, then came home and threw up rainbows all over my house. Second, most of them are LOUD and require a second mortgage just to keep the up with the battery demand. Third, I have found that Kate has much more interest in items that she can use her creativity with, versus something with overwhelming bells and whistles. Fourth, I’m a little freaked out by the lead based paints, toxins, and product recalls associated with these toys. The hereditary maladies are challenge enough for my child; she doesn’t need mutated genes too. Plus, I’m not really sure what I’d do if she gained an extra appendage. I have a hard time fighting her with the four she has.

The really cool part to being slightly more discriminatory in my toy buying (for our house and gifts) is that I’ve found some incredibly cool retailers, including Olie Bollen. I was browsing for a shower gift and came across these:

Aren’t they precious? If you click on the link and read more about them, I'm convinced you will love them as much as I do! They are also Michigan made and sold by a Michigan owned company. Those of us left in Michigan can't afford to buy anything. For those of you who live elsewhere, SEND YOUR MONEY!

2 comments:

I've taken to covering most of the speakers on Abby's toys with tape. And once the batteries die, they don't get replaced. I cannot stand listening to all her toys yapping at me all the time. I only buy her "quiet" toys, but my sister delights in finding the noisiest thing and sending it our way (hello, maracas that shake AND play music? thanks, sis!). Those blocks (and that site) are too cute!